Marriage is nearly as old as the
human race. †It was ordained by the
Creator Himself. †It was Godís will that
a man and a woman become one in marriage. †No provision was made for either polygamy or
divorce. †Marriage was intended by God to
be for life (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25; Romans 7:1-3; 1Corinthians
7:39).

It was not long, however, until men
departed from Godís original plan. Polygamy began to be practiced (Genesis 4:19). †When the Law of Moses was given to Israel,
the people had become so hard-hearted that God permitted divorce, but only
under certain conditions (Deuteronomy
24:1-4). †Even then, God was not
pleased with divorce. †He said: ďI hate putting awayĒ (Malachi

2:14-16).

When Jesus came into the world and
gave His law for all mankind, He did not give a new and different law of
marriage. †Instead He called mankind back
to Godís original plan (Matthew 19:3-12).
†His commandment, ďWhat therefore God hath joined together, let
not man put asunderĒ is still Godís will for us today!

The Lord allowed only one cause for
divorce. †This cause is sexual
unfaithfulness on the part of oneís marriage partner. †Fornication on the part of a marriage partner
gives the innocent partner the right to divorce and remarry. †But no such privilege is given to the guilty
partner. †To divorce and remarry for
other than the one Scriptural cause is to commit adultery. †To marry one who has been divorced who was not
the innocent party is to commit adultery (Matthew
19:9;5:31,32). †Adulterers will not go to Heaven. †They will spend eternity in Hell (1Corinthians
6:9,10; Hebrews 13:4; Revelation 21:8). †Those who are living in adultery must repent,
stop committing adultery and seek the Lordís forgiveness if they want to be
saved.

The home is the basic unit of
society.† It is the function of the home
to provide companionship, the satisfaction of basic human needs and the rearing
and training of children.† The community,
the church, and the nation can only be strong when the home is strong.† Many evil forces seek to destroy the home
today.† Among these evil forces are easy
divorce laws, sexual immorality, false views of womanís role in society, but
most of all, ignorance of, and a failure to obey Godís law of marriage which is
given in the Bible.

Godís people must never compromise
Godís will on marriage!† We have no right
to change Godís requirements!† In a day
when the world increasingly accepts divorce and remarriage for almost any
cause, Godís people must stand out as lights shining in darkness (Philippians 2:13,14).† It is not our duty to be changed by the
worldís standards, but to seek to bring the world to Godís standards (Romans 12:1,2).† To this end, we should strive diligently to
make our homes conform to Godís righteous ways recorded in His Word.† It is very important that we teach our
children that marriage is for life and divorce is sinful except for the one
reason that Jesus gave.

Let us never forget or forsake the
divine admonition: ďLet marriage be had
in honour among all, and let the bed be undefiled; for fornicators and
adulterers God will judgeĒ (Hebrews
13:4, American Standard Version, 1901 edition).† Godís plan for marriage is still ďone man,
one wife, for life!Ē